


Nightmares

by Xenobia



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, College, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-09 12:37:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5540222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xenobia/pseuds/Xenobia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Petra keeps having reoccurring nightmares about a life she can't fully recall. Her college roommate Levi sheds a little light on it one night, when a particularly bad dream causes her to awake screaming. Het, fluff, hurt/comfort, reincarnation AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: I found this little nugget last night while going through my AOT writing folder to try to get a little more of "Encore" written. I forgot I even wrote it, and I can't even recall what inspired it. For now, it's just a stand-alone little fluff, hurt/comfort ficlet. It may lead to a multi-chapter story eventually, should I feel the urge to expand on it after knocking out a few other projects I'd like to finish; which is why I have a question mark in parenthesis after "The End". Happy holidays, Levi-x-Petra shippers!

**_*Disclaimer: This fanfiction is for entertainment, non-profit purposes only. I do not claim ownership of any canon characters or the world that this is set in._ **

* * *

Petra was screaming again. It jolted Levi out of a rather heavy sleep, and he came awake with a start at the sound. Sitting bolt upright in his bed, he stared into the darkness and he tried to banish the last vestiges of his own nightmares. Petra…slammed against the trunk of a giant tree. Sweet, pretty Petra, with dried blood smeared across her face and her blank amber eyes staring fixated in death.

"No," he rasped, scrubbing his eyes.

She wasn't dead. She was in the next room, quite alive and screaming her head off. Levi yanked the covers aside and he scrambled out of his bed, unable to bear the sound of her angst. He stumbled out of his small room and he practically fell through the door of Petra's. He found her huddled in her single bed, covering her face with her hands as she cried out.

"Petra," Levi called softly as he bent over her and shook her shoulder. "Hey, snap out of it. You're okay."

She sat up with a gasp, and her gold-hazel eyes were wild and staring in the moonlight. It took her a moment to focus on the shadowed form of her roommate—who by all rights _shouldn't_ be her roommate at all.

"L-Levi?"

"Yeah." He sat down on the edge of the bed, the mattress creaking under his additional weight. "Calm down. You've just had a nightmare."

She clutched at him thankfully, her small hands grabbing his bare shoulders. She pulled him close and sniffled against his chest. "It was so…real. I'm sorry, was I screaming?"

He nodded, and he stroked her tangled, strawberry blonde hair. "Yeah, you were. I thought someone was killing you in here."

She laughed in a bitter manner, and then she choked and held him tighter. "I'm probably the worst roomie ever. I don't mean to be a pain in the ass."

"You're fine," he assured her. The scent of her shampoo from her recently washed hair wafted up his nostrils, and his arms impulsively stole around her. "It's okay. Just breathe. In through the nose, out through the mouth."

She did as he advised, and he could feel her heart hammering beneath her breast as she clung to him. Levi rocked her gently, unsure of what else to do or say. He remembered everything. He knew her from another life, recognized her from the first fateful moment they'd met on campus. That was why he'd started hanging out with her. That was why he'd offered to move into her dorm room when her former roommate dropped out and left. Petra didn't like being alone. While Levi was just the opposite, he couldn't put aside her need and though it was normally prohibited for male and female students to room together, he pulled some strings to make it happen.

"Shh, it's okay," he murmured against her hair. He began to rock her gently back and forth. "Want to talk about it?"

She shook her head, but then her mouth betrayed her actions. "There was this…thing. I don't know how to describe it. I've had the same nightmare before. It was big. It looked like a woman, but it had no skin and it was coming after me. I…I was flying on these wires, trying to get away from it, but it…it…"

Another tremor shook her petite body, and Levi rubbed her back. He knew exactly what part of her past life she was recalling, and his eyes squeezed shut. He'd failed her. He'd failed them all. He hadn't even been able to give her or the rest of his elite squad a proper burial. Desperate to escape pursuit by titans drawn to their formation by a pair of idiots that had ignored orders and gone back for the body of a fallen comrade, Levi himself had ordered the men to jettison the bodies they were attempting to cart back to the walled settlement. Petra's was amongst them, and hers was the last corpse they dumped before the danger was over and they could outrun the pursuit.

"It's okay," he said again, struggling against old guilt. So long as he existed, he would never forgive or forget what he'd done to save the surviving members of the expedition team. "I've got you. Take it easy."

She sniffed, and her soft lips pressed against his throat as she settled deeper into his protective embrace. "Bet you didn't think you'd be babysitting a whiner when you moved in with me, right?"

Levi pulled back a bit. "Hey, look at me."

Her tearful eyes met his, and he held her gaze levelly. "Everyone has nightmares, Petra."

"True, but most adults don't wake up screaming from them," she countered softly. She closed her eyes and shook her head, letting go of his right shoulder to place her hand over the swell of her breasts. The faded pink t-shirt she wore as her pajama top crinkled as she clenched her hand into a fist, there. "I'm really embarrassed."

"Well don't be," he advised. His pale gray eyes flashed briefly with emotion, unseen by her. "Most adults don't have nightmares like yours, kid."

Petra smirked a little, her lips trembling. She met his gaze again searchingly. "You do, though."

Levi sighed. "Yeah, I do. Sorry I scared you that night."

She chuckled in a nervous manner, and she loosened the hand over her chest to reach up with it, stroking his dark bangs out of his eyes. "I thought someone broke in and you were murdering them, the way you were shouting. I was a little afraid to approach you, but…you sounded like you were in so much pain."

Recalling the night shortly after he'd moved into her dorm room with her, Levi grimaced a bit. He'd been dreaming of the very instance Petra had just recalled in her nightmare—again—and he'd cut loose oaths of vengeance that he'd never uttered in that previous life. His former stoicism, it seemed, was harder to come by now. He blamed it on living an existence without the constant threat of titans. One couldn't learn to be so stone-hearted when one wasn't perpetually wading through the bodies of fallen comrades.

"See? You're not the only one," he whispered, trying to be consoling. God, he sucked at this sort of thing. The one girl he knew that he could fall for at the drop of a dime, and he couldn't even comfort her properly.

"I guess I'm not," she whispered back. Her gaze flickered as she searched his eyes, and she bit her lower lip. "I'm really glad we met, Levi. I've never had a guy punch someone out for me before."

He snorted softly. "Tch. He grabbed your ass. He had it coming."

Levi of course did not mention the staggering surge of jealousy and protectiveness he'd felt at that moment. They'd been at a sports pub watching the football game, shooting pool with their friends. When Petra bent over to line up the cue for her shot, some jackass came by and helped himself to a grope. The bastard was lucky to get away with only one devastating blow to his jaw, and other bar patrons had been openly shocked to see such a small guy knock someone twice his height straight off his feet and into a table.

Petra smiled at him. "You're such a gentleman. So protective. I um…told my parents about you, by the way."

"Yeah?" Levi wondered if her parents were the same two people in this lifetime, or if she'd been born to someone "fresh" to the world. "What'd they say?"

"Mom's glad. Especially after I told her about the way you defended my honor that night at the bar." She chuckled and she shrugged lightly, and then she traced his jaw with her fingertips. "Dad…not so much. He thinks you'll try to take advantage of our living situation. I told him that will never happen, though."

"You think so?" Levi smirked, feeling an urge to tease her a bit. "You're a pretty girl and I've got needs like any other guy. Maybe your dad's not far off."

She considered him thoughtfully, her gaze flicking over his and lower. Her cheeks suddenly darkened with a blush as it seemed to dawn on her that he was in nothing but his boxers, and she was in nothing but a t-shirt and panties. Petra averted her gaze. "You're picking on me," she said in a tone of finality.

Levi shrugged. "Maybe just a little, yeah. Sometimes I think you forget I've got a dick, though."

_~Dumbass. Why did I say that? Now she'll be creeped out. Nicely done, Ackerman.~_

Petra wasn't creeped out, though. Instead, she seemed oddly charmed and she giggled. She hesitantly placed a hand on one of his bare knees, and she bit her lower lip before tucking her hair behind her right ear and meeting his gaze again.

"I never forgot you have a dick, Levi. I just know you don't _think_ with it all the time, that's all."

He actually felt some relief in hearing that. With his obsessive compulsive cleaning habits, he'd even wondered if she thought he was gay. He shook his head and rolled his eyes at his own foolishness. Since when did he give a fuck what anyone thought? It wasn't like him to care, and he certainly didn't harbor any homophobia. Hell, he caught one of the other athletes checking him out in the locker room the other day and he just shrugged if off and took it as a compliment.

Petra's soft lips brushing against his cheek suddenly jerked the former Scout captain out of his thoughts, and suddenly his reminder to her that he had a dick came with visual proof. He sprung a woody so fast that there was no way in hell he could have tried to conceal it, and he glanced down at the tent he was pitching in his boxers accusingly.

"Thank you, Levi," she whispered, her warm breath sighing over his skin. "I feel better."

"Shit."

Petra paused, and she drew back with a faintly hurt expression on her pretty little face. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. This is obviously awkward…" She trailed off and bit her lip again, flushing deeply once more.

Levi looked up from his crotch, cursing himself for giving her the wrong impression. He shook his dark head. "Hey, it's not you. It's me. I…"

~I always wondered what it would be like, but I never dared to test it because I'm a chickenshit when it comes to relationships. Always wanted to kiss you, but in that life I was your superior and in this one…well, I figured I must be in the "friend zone" by now. Doesn't help that your father made it sound like you thought of me as husband material when he approached me after your death. Fuck, I need to focus.~

He said none of this aloud. He just stared at her with helpless frustration, and he started to gather her sheets over his lap in a not-so-subtle effort to conceal the condition her little smooch had provoked. Petra's gaze was drawn to the area by his actions, and she blinked with open surprise when she saw the obnoxious boner straining under his shorts.

"Oh."

Levi sighed. "Yeah, 'oh'. See? I'm no prince. You said I don't think with my dick, but there you go."

Her expression of surprise began to shift, and a little smile curved her lips. She met his gaze again. "So…do you like me, or was that just a biological reaction to me kissing your cheek?"

He didn't blink. "I moved in with you. I've kicked a guy's ass for disrespecting you. When I heard you screaming in here, I came charging in faster than if I'd hit a home run. What the hell do _you_ think, ditz?"

She took a slow breath, and then she exhaled with a low chuckle. "I think that's the grouchiest way a guy has ever admitted an attraction to me before."

"Tch." It was Levi's turn to look away, because he knew that if he kept staring at her, he was going to lose it and sully her impression of him as a gentleman. "You know me."

Petra cupped his face, urging him to turn his head and look at her again. "Apparently not as well as I thought I did. You're a hard guy to read, Ackerman. I…thought you were mad at me for kissing you."

"I wasn't," he whispered in confession. "I was mad at myself for damned near skewering you with my hard-on the minute you did it. Look, I don't know if you realize this, but it's kind of embarrassing to spring a stiffy without any control over it. I thought you'd get spooked and think I was a pervert or someth—"

Petra's mouth abruptly covered his, cutting off his rambling. Levi went stiff all over, and then his arms stole around her petite form as though they had a will of their own. He caressed her lips with his tongue and when they parted, he gently slipped inside to tease and taste her. Petra's breath caught a little, and she scooted closer. Levi pulled her into his lap without a thought for it, and the next thing he knew she was straddling him and they were rocking slowly together.

"Ral," Levi husked warningly between kisses, "I've got limits to my self-control, believe it or not."

She smirked and withdrew a bit to stare at him. "So do I. Um, how long have you liked me, anyway?"

"How long have _you_ liked _me_?" he countered evasively.

"Hey, I asked you first!" She poked him lightly in the chest with a finger.

Levi huffed.

_~I've liked you for two fucking lifetimes.~_

Out loud, he used more subtlety. "I've liked you for longer than you'd believe."

His answer seemed to both please and confuse her, and her tone was laced with playfulness when she responded. "Really? You make it sound like you knew me before we even met."

Levi just stared at her, and Petra's little smile faded. Something akin to fear flickered in her gaze, and he knew she was starting to get it. Some part of her remembered him, even if she couldn't consciously place from where or when.

"Levi," she whispered, suddenly tense, "who were we?"

Surprised, he didn't immediately answer, and Petra squeezed his bare shoulders urgently. "Don't look at me like I'm crazy. You know I'm not an irrational person, even if I do have some issues with being alone. There's something you aren't telling me. This connection I've always felt for you goes further than just attraction. Please, tell me I'm not just flaking out."

Her imploring words broke him, and he answered her softly. "You aren't flaking out, and you aren't imagining things. We knew each other once before, in a different lifetime. We…worked together." He watched her with subtle wariness, bracing himself for her reaction to him flat-out stating it.

Petra swallowed, and then she moistened her lips with her tongue before speaking again, still using a hushed tone as if she feared someone might overhear their strange conversation and have them both committed. "Did we wear cloaks? In my dreams sometimes, I see a green cloak with a symbol on it, but I can't make the symbol out. It bothers me almost as much as that nightmare I keep having about the monster woman coming after me."

Levi hesitated. A part of him wanted Petra to recall more of their previous life, if only for selfish reasons. A bigger part of him—the protective part—wanted to spare her the misery of those memories and that brutal, short life she'd led before.

"The symbol is a pair of overlapping wings," he said at length, deciding he could at least shed a little light on it. "They're called the 'wings of freedom', and it was our regiment's symbol. I wish I could tell you more. All I know is we were in a military squad together, and I was your commanding officer. That thing in your nightmares was a titan, like in the history books. I guess we used to fight them." It was only a partial truth. He didn't want to tell her that he actually remembered every bit of it.

Petra lowered her gaze in thought. "Were you and I together? I mean as a couple?"

Levi shook his head. "No. That much I can confirm."

"I see." She met his eyes again. "But did we like each other? I feel like I've had a crush on you for a long time, and what you said about liking me for longer than I would believe makes me think we both had a thing for each other in this past life."

Levi blinked slowly. "So you actually believe what I've told you? You're taking it awfully well."

"You're evading again," she observed, pinching his cheek with nostalgic fondness. "My feelings for you and my reoccurring nightmares are what makes this all believable to me, Levi. Will you please answer me straight?"

He sighed. "I'm not sure how, because I was honestly too thick to notice whether you liked me or not. Hell, I didn't know you liked me now. I suck at these things and that hasn't changed."

"But did _you_ like _me_?" she pressed stubbornly, a trembling smile curving her lips in a hopeful manner.

Levi braced himself, his pulse quickening and his mouth going dry. He swallowed, and he forced the words past his lips. "Yes, I liked you. Guess I just never acted on it…maybe because of our work relationship, or maybe because my own fucking feelings scared me more than any titan ever could. Shit, just stop me…that was cheesy as fuck."

Petra chuckled unevenly, shaking her head. She combed her fingers through his hair and she kissed him briefly on the lips. "No, it was the sweetest thing any guy's ever said to me. You're not as bad at this as you think."

Levi swallowed again, his arms tightening around her subtly. Finally admitting his feelings to her had shaken him more than he cared to admit. In the battlefield, he'd always been cool and collected…practically bored, in fact. When it came to making a move on someone he really liked, however, he was the world's biggest failure. Finally getting it out took a weight off of him. His confidence was returning, and he reached up to cup the back of her head and draw her lips to his again. No more words were needed, and frankly he didn't want her asking more questions about the past.

After a few moments of tongue-fencing, Levi broke the kiss and pulled back again, breathing heavily. He was throbbing and aching in his boxers, his body demanding the gratification he'd been denying himself.

"Better stop now," he told her, his voice a low drone of need. "Like I said: my control has limits and it's been a while since I've seen some action."

"Please don't go," she implored when he tried to ease her off of his lap. "Levi, sleep in here with me tonight. We don't have to do more than hold each other. I don't want to rush it either, but I don't know if I can get back to sleep if you go."

Petra bowed her head, and her shiny, mussed hair fell forward to conceal her face. "That sounded pretty selfish of me, right? You must think I'm such a baby."

"No," he answered. He brushed her hair back from her face, and he cupped her chin to urge her to look at him again. "I've had those nightmares too. I get it, Petra. Remember, you're talking to an insomniac that rarely sleeps for longer than three hours at a time."

~I just don't know if I can just hold you all night, without losing my shit and tearing your clothes off.~

She seemed to read his thoughts in his eyes, and she smiled. She squirmed a little on top of him, rubbing against his hardened groin through their underwear.

"Hey, cut that out," he protested. One hand slid down to cup her bottom. "If you want me to stay, you can't fucking tease me like that."

"I was just getting more comfortable," she excused, her eyes twinkling with mischief.

"By grinding against my boner?" Levi snorted. "Tch. Right. I'm sure being poked with this thing is really comfortable."

Petra laughed softly, and she put her arms around his neck. "Women have needs too, silly. Do you think I'm not feeling it just as bad as you are?"

"Your panties are moist," he observed shamelessly. "I know you're 'feeling it'. Rubbing the evidence up against me like this is driving me crazy, you little shit."

Her petite form shook with mirth, and she hastily covered her mouth to muffle her growing laughter.

"You really don't get offended easily," Levi pointed out…though he was relieved that his crude language wasn't turning her off. "I'm serious though, Petra. I'm struggling, here."

"I know," she said after recovering from her amusement. She shook her hair back, and she traced his features with her fingertips. A sigh escaped her, and her other hand stroked over the hard surface of his pecs admiringly. "I'm struggling too; especially now that I know my attraction hasn't just been one-sided. You're really hot. Were you this cute in the other life?"

"Sure, if you like a guy with dark shadows under his eyes and a bad temper," Levi answered dryly, feeling his face heat up, "and no social skills whatsoever."

"You're honest," Petra excused. "You tell people what you really think. I don't think that's a bad thing." She leaned in to kiss his brow. "And I love your eyes. You've got the most direct, intense stare I've ever seen."

"Some would say 'scary'," he muttered. He eased her off of him, but before she could protest, he urged her onto her back and he covered her body with his own. With her petite curves pressing flush against his, he found it a little hard to catch his breath. "I'll stay in here with you tonight, Petra. I can't promise my hands won't wander a little, though."

"That's okay," she assured him, lifting her head off the pillow to kiss the hollow of his throat. Her hands stroked over his chest and abs sensually. "I can't promise my hands won't wander, either."

* * *

Petra was a little surprised when Levi fell asleep before she did. With one arm around her waist, he was lying on his side facing her and his breathing was steady and even. She watched him in the dim moonlight, replaying the strange conversation from earlier and their revelation. It was crazy, and yet she completely believed that they'd known each other in a past life. Levi was not the sort of guy that would make up such a story, and Petra had been the one to bring up the subject in the first place.

One thing was still troubling her though. She couldn't shake the feeling that he knew more about it than he'd let on. As she lay there beside him in the darkness and watched him sleep, she carried on her own private, internal conversation. Should she press him for more information? Maybe it was all in her head. She couldn't think of a reason why Levi would want to keep it from her, but then again, she'd had no idea he liked her until she gave him that little kiss on the cheek in gratitude. She probably never would have found out if not for that moment, in fact, because as much as she trusted the man and felt safe around him, she also found him intimidating. That wasn't really a bad thing. Petra found a strong presence sexy in a man, and Levi had that in abundance.

The thought of how protective he was of her gave her another realization. If Levi really was holding information about this past life of theirs back from her, it was probably because he thought she was better off not knowing.

"What happened to us?" she murmured, brushing her thumb over his pouty lips. She winced when Levi stirred and his eyes cracked open. Her and her big, stupid mouth. He was such a light sleeper…she shouldn't have spoken aloud.

"Don't," Levi murmured sleepily. His gaze wasn't even focused on her, hinting that he wasn't actually awake.

"Don't what, Levi?" Petra whispered curiously. "I think you might be dreaming."

"Doesn't matter who we were or what happened before," said the young man softly. "Don't try to remember it. I don't…want you to see…" He drifted off, and his eyes fluttered shut again.

Petra stared at him. She'd been right. Whatever he recalled that she didn't, he didn't want her to live it again. Tenderness swept through her, even as frustration nagged. Highest ranking member of the martial arts team and star pitcher of their university's baseball team, Levi was a catch by most people's standards despite his lack of social graces. He could probably go through the whole cheerleader squad if he wanted to, yet not once since she'd met him in this life had Petra seen him hook up with anyone.

"But you're hooking up with me," she whispered with a smile.

Her emotions were bouncing all over the place, and a sense of giddiness replaced her previous blend of feelings. She didn't care about social status and impressing people with her boyfriend. Dating jocks wasn't something she normally did. Making out with Levi, however, had given her a thrill she hadn't felt since her first date in high school with the boy she'd been crushing on. Now she couldn't even recall what he looked like, but there was no way was he cuter than the guy pressed up close to her in her bed right now.

~Whoa, down girl. We haven't even agreed to date, yet. Don't start making wedding plans over a few kisses!~

Her self-caution seemed to be useless, though, and she chewed the inside of her cheek in a quandary. "Levi?"

Against her better judgment, she nudged him to wake him up. He mumbled crossly, but when he opened his eyes and they focused on her, his annoyed expression softened. "What? Having another nightmare?"

She shook her head, watching him guiltily. "No. I'm sorry to wake you up, but there's something I need to know."

His expression went carefully blank and neutral, his gray eyes hooded. "About what?"

The caution in his tone was the only hint of what he was feeling, and she guessed that he thought she was going to needle him for more information about the other life. Petra took a deep breath, and she hoped she wasn't about to suffer some devastating rejection. "Are we…together now? I mean dating? I don't want to assume anything and make an ass of myself."

God, she felt foolish…and kind of pathetic. She couldn't read a thing in his eyes as he stared back at her, and a sick feeling grew in the pit of her stomach. "I just think it's better to make sure we're on the same page," she rambled. "If it was just a few kisses to you, I want to know."

"Do you think I'm a player?" His voice was low and demanding.

"N-no, of course not!" She almost called him "sir" in that instance, feeling like a cadet being questioned by a drill sergeant. "But I remember you telling me once that you don't have time to date when I asked if you to go on a double date with me and that jerk my friend Debbie set me up with. Remember that?"

Levi nodded. "I do."

She waited, and when he didn't say more, Petra sighed. Vague man. This was one thing about Levi that _did_ piss her off sometimes. "Well," she pressed after a moment, "is that still the case?"

He seemed to consider it. "You really want a guy like me for a boyfriend?"

She clucked her tongue, and her exasperation gave her the courage to swat him on the arm. "Yes, silly."

"Then we're dating." He turned his head and yawned, and then he pulled her tightly against him and nuzzled her hair. "I don't make out with girls casually, Ral. Just making sure you know what you're getting into."

She started beaming helplessly as she cuddled up against him, and she kissed his chest as she squirmed down to rest her cheek against it. "Good. I'd have been tempted to smack you for leading me on, otherwise."

"Heh. That would be a first," he murmured.

"Why would you think I wouldn't want to date you?" She kissed his chest again, finding it far too appealing. Levi was not a big man, but damn, was he put together nicely. It would be a refreshing change for Petra to date someone that didn't tower over her so much she'd have a constant crick in her neck from looking up at him, too. Levi was just a little taller than her, and that was just right.

Levi sighed. "Because of all those flaws I pointed out earlier. Those tend to scare women off, eventually."

"They won't scare _me_ off," she insisted between soft smooches against his skin. "You have other qualities that more than make up for being such a grouch. You're kind—"

Levi snorted.

"You are," she insisted. "You always help people out when they're in trouble, even if you grumble about it. You're like an anti-hero."

"If you say so. What else do you think redeems my bad qualities? You've got me curious now."

"You're brave," she went on, "and you've got leadership qualities. You're also not a creep that goes through women like toilet paper, even though you could if you wanted to. Oh, and you make me laugh. That's important, too."

"Hmm. Never knew I was a comedian," he replied dryly, and he shrugged. "But if my filthy mouth amuses you, that's cool."

She pulled away slightly and she tilted her head back to look up at him. "Okay, now it's your turn."

His dark brows pinched the slightest bit. "My turn for what? Damn you're chatty."

"Your turn to tell me why you want me as a girlfriend," explained Petra with a smirk. "We can go back to sleep after that, I promise. This is part of the courtship, Levi."

He rolled his eyes. "Come on, you're killing me here."

She fought a chuckle, not taking his gruffness to heart. "Come on, you can do it."

"I told you I suck at this," he protested. "Can't we just get some shuteye and be happy we figured out we both want each other?"

"We can, as soon as you humor me. Please?"

He groaned softly. "So you really need to hear this now, huh?"

Petra nodded. "Sorry, but yes. I've got my own kind of OCD, cutie."

He caved. "All right, fine. You want to know why I want to date you?"

"I do."

He stared at her for so long that she started to fidget, and then he spoke one single, short sentence. "Because you're Petra."

And that was it; like it explained everything…and it did. Petra's eyes softened on him, and her heart skipped a beat. "Wow, that was a lot more romantic than my string of praises. You really don't suck at this, Levi."

"Maybe you're just too weird to see it," he countered, and a teasing smirk adorned his lips. He kissed her softly on the forehead. "Now try to get some sleep, you persistent little twerp. We've both got classes to get to in the morning."

"Yes sir," she chuckled, cuddling him again. Of course, now it would be a miracle if she got to sleep for entirely different reasons than the fear of another nightmare. Petra was happy, and she felt completely and utterly safe with him.

* * *

The End (?)


End file.
